Stripper Wells
A stripper well or marginal well is an oil or gas well that is nearing the end of its economically useful life. “Stripper well” or “marginal well” are terms generally used to describe wells that produce natural oil at very low rates—less than 10 barrels per day of oil. With the price of crude oil spiraling upward an interest in reclaiming untapped reserves in these stripper wells is becoming a topic of renewed interest.
In the United States of America, one out of every six barrels of crude oil produced comes from a marginal oil well, and over 78 percent of the total number of U.S. oil wells are now classified as such.
There are over 400,000 of these wells in the United States, and together they produce nearly 900 thousand barrels of oil per day, 16 percent of U.S. Production.
There are thousands of wells that don't have enough potential production to justify the operating cost of the conventional pumping jack with rods and tubing and these are the wells that applicant's new method could help strip out a little more oil.